


And In The Streets You Run Afree

by cloudwatch



Category: Fire Emblem: If | Fire Emblem: Fates
Genre: Falling In Love, Fluff, Humor, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-05-26
Updated: 2016-05-26
Packaged: 2018-07-10 06:25:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,149
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6969808
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cloudwatch/pseuds/cloudwatch
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"Normally, having Leo this close to him wouldn’t have been a problem, but it was one, because the crush Takumi had on Leo wasn’t like butterflies dancing in his stomach, writing their names in his notebook before circling them with a heart, and wanting to frolic in a field of flowers while holding hands. It was more like a train traveling at eighty miles an hour slamming into his body followed, by a life flight trip to the hospital and a wonderful morphine drip."</p><p>Modern AU where Takumi and Leo are part of a circus. Leo is the star acrobat and because of that, Takumi suffers.</p>
            </blockquote>





	And In The Streets You Run Afree

**Author's Note:**

> so i really liked the idea of leo being all acrobatic and then this popped out. so this is a modern au but it's set in their world, so hoshido and nohr are still the names of the nations and no one has last names. 
> 
> art in this chapter was done by [the WONDERFUL AND AMAZING SACHI](https://twitter.com/nn_sachiyo)  
>  
> 
> (apologies for taking it down, there was an issue with the picture that i couldn't edit from my phone. 
> 
> EDIT: art is now in!)

There was a bruise on his left cheek bone, just underneath the eye; every time he blinked, his eyelashes brushed it, just barely, each blink drawing attention to the bruise and Takumi hated it.

 

Takumi forced his attention back to the rigging, eyes watching to make sure that everything was set up properly, but the second he'd finished his (third) check of the rigging, his eyes found their way back to that bruise. It seemed as though with each blink the dark purple color seemed to stand out more and Takumi felt himself frowning, everything happening around him fading away as he focused more and more on that damn bruise.

 

"Takumi?"

 

Takumi humphed, eyes still staring intently on the bruise.

 

There was a soft chuckle, and then a hand waved in front of his face, forcing him to look away. "Yes?"

 

Leo was still standing in front of him, dressed in his practice shirt, leggings, and small shorts over the top of the leggings; it was a simpler version of his performance outfit ("I like wearing something close to what I'll be performing in," he'd once told Takumi when they'd just been getting to know each other, "That way I won't be thrown off by the feel of the fabric when I perform."), a few tears on his leggings, but it was nothing that couldn't be fixed quickly with some  thread and a needle. "Do I have your attention again?"

 

Takumi shook his head, looking back towards the aerial silks and the rigging (fourth check) once more before answering Leo. "Yes, you do, sorry."

 

Leo folded his arms and rested his weight on his left leg. So he's still favoring his right foot, Takumi thought. "You were staring," Leo said bluntly, and he was close enough that Takumi's eyes moved again, right back to that fucking bruise. Leo seemed a little nervous with Takumi’s staring, his arms unfolding and his hand reaching up to brush his bangs out of his eyes, and when his hand passed over the bruise Takumi looked away again. "Does it really bother you that much?" he asked, his voice softer than it had been just a moment ago.

 

Takumi huffed again. "The idiot responsible for your injuries was under my watch, so yes, it does bother me," he said, harsher than he'd hoped to be. Leo dropped his hand from his face and reached out to place it on Takumi's shoulder. The weight of it caused Takumi to relax just enough so that when he returned the small smile Leo was giving him it didn't feel forced.

 

"I'm okay now," Leo said. "They cleared me for practice and I'm going to be performing at the street performance next week. I'm really okay."

 

Takumi nodded, forcing himself to point towards the silks hanging and ready for use. "Let's get to practicing your performance then."

 

Leo nodded and headed towards the silks. He took the fabric in hand and tugged once, twice, and then wrapped the strands around his waist and then leg. "On the count of three," he called out to Takumi, who signaled the man on standby, ready to pull the silks up. "Oh," Leo said suddenly, and Takumi held up his hand to the man to hold on raising the fabrics.

 

"Yeah?"

 

"You were told that we cut out that one drop, right?"

 

Takumi knew which drop had been cut; it was Leo's favorite, where he dropped from the highest point on the fabrics, spun once, and then stopped falling only by the silk wrapped around his thigh. _It's the fall that injured you from your last practice, the one that was the fault of my assistant... and me, by default_ , he thought, but out loud he said, "Yes, and we know what replaced it as well. Ready when you are!"

 

Leo gave them the signal, one final tug on the silk, and then he was being pulled up into the air. Takumi's eyes followed him, watching each movement intently, and even though he couldn't see it with Leo that high up, Takumi kept thinking back to that bruise on Leo's cheek bone.

 

He hated it.

 

***

 

Leo fell from his aerial silks on a Monday, because of course it would happen on a Monday.

 

It felt like an ordinary Monday when Takumi had woken up, the birds chirping happily outside easily reflecting the exact opposite of Takumi's mood. He'd been forced awake before his alarm, due to a bird slamming into his window and had been in a foul mood ever since. He'd nearly tossed his phone at the wall once his alarm had gone off, and the only thing that had prevented him from actually doing it had been that it was his phone, and he still owed money on his plan and actually throwing the phone would have required energy that he didn't want to waste.

 

Eventually, he found the energy to drag himself out of bed and towards the bathroom, grabbing one of the hotel's fluffy towels and letting it drag along the floor behind him as he approached the shower, making sure to kick the door closed behind him, drowsily searching for the handle that would turn the hot water on. He stood there, staring at the shower curtain while steam filled up the bathroom.

 

He took extra long in the shower, using the time to wake up completely and once he was fully aware, he began running through the mental list of what he had to do today. _Morning meeting to discuss the next performance, meet with performers to see if there are any tricks that were removed or added in, and then the usual practice runs_ , he paused in his thinking long enough to step into the shower and began washing his hair.

 

 _I also have to go into town and find a gift for Sakura's birthday_ , he thought as he rinsed out the shampoo from his hair. "Where am I going to find time to do that?" He'd have to call his family to see what they'd gotten her already, just to make sure that he didn't get her the same thing. "I miss them, it's been a while since I last saw them in person," he told his bar of soap; his grip must have been too tight, because it slipped out of his hands and slid down until it stopped right by the drain where it broke in half. "Of course," Takumi mumbled to himself, bending down to pick it up so he could resume washing himself.

 

He finished his shower quickly, wringing his hair to get rid of as much water as possible before stepping out of the shower and wrapping himself up in the soft towel. He stood there, fluffy towel keeping him warm and let the steam surround him. He was on the verge of almost falling back asleep when his cell phone starting ringing loudly in the other room. It jolted his body awake and, nearly tripping over his own feet, Takumi dashed out of the bathroom, threw himself onto the bed and reached over to snag his phone. When he answered, he was only able to pant out a shaky, “Hello?”

 

“ _Takumi, can you do me a favor before you head in this morning?_ ”

 

Takumi pushed his wet hair out of his eyes, resisting the urge to yawn. It wouldn’t due for him to yawn in the ear of his boss. “Yeah, what’s up?”

 

There was a pause on the other end of the line. “ _Leo was kept up late last night due to a rather large party that was happening in the rented room underneath his room. I fear he might sleep through his alarm. Would you mind knocking on the door and waking him up before you come in?_ ”

 

Takumi froze, his mind going to the last time he’d been sent to wake Leo up. It had been… an adventure. “Why me?” he said, and then he quickly added, “Not that I won’t do it, I will.”

 

There was a chuckle on the other end of the line. “ _You’re one of the few people that he actually recognizes when he’s half asleep._ ”

 

Takumi ran a hand over his face, trying not to chuckle at the memory of what had happened the last time someone Leo hadn’t known tried to wake him up; Leo had slammed the door on the poor boy’s hand before falling back asleep right by the door, curled up in a little ball. Takumi had a picture on his phone of Leo sleeping, one that Leo (thankfully) didn’t know about. “Yeah, I’ll wake him up in about thirty minutes, will that work?”

 

“ _Yes, thank you. I just need him to be there for the morning practices, which he won’t be if he isn’t woken up._ ”

 

Takumi said goodbye to his boss, repeating that he would wake Leo up before hanging up the call. Thirty seconds later Takumi shoved himself off his bed and rushed towards the dresser; he pulled out his outfit for the day and dressed quickly, sprinting to the bathroom to dry his hair quickly. A Leo who was sleepy was one of Takumi’s favorite versions of him; Leo had a habit of wearing his clothing on backwards or inside out, and it took him longer to process what was being said to him, all the while giving whoever was speaking to him the cutest confused look ever.

 

Takumi tied his hair up with his hair ribbon and grabbed his work bag as he headed out of his hotel room. Leo’s room was one floor down from his, and Takumi hoped he didn’t look too happy to be waking Leo up as he positioned himself in front of Leo’s door and knocked.

 

Like he suspected, there was no sound from the other side of the door. Grinning, Takumi proceeded to knock repeatedly on the door. He continued to knock for the next three minutes before he heard a crash from inside the room; a moan and the words, “Okay, _okay_ ,” followed soon after, and Takumi forced the grin from his face as the door opened slowly and Leo stood in front of him, blinking blearily at him.

 

“Good morning, Leo,” Takumi said cheerfully.

 

Leo stared at him, blinked slowly, and then tilted his head to the side. “Huh?”

 

Takumi bit the inside of his cheek. “I said good morning.”

 

Leo looked down at his feet and frowned. “It’s morning?” When Takumi answered in the affirmative, Leo ran a hand through his already messy hair and slumped a bit against the open door. “Already?”

 

“Yes. I was told to wake you up before I headed into my meeting.”

 

Leo let out a groan and promptly leaned forward to rest his head against Takumi’s shoulder. “I don’t want it to be morning,” he mumbled, but Takumi didn’t pay attention to what Leo was saying. The second Leo had leaned against him he’d frozen, feeling heat starting to rush through his body as he felt Leo’s breath brush against his neck. “Can I go back to sleep now?”

 

Takumi gulped, fighting between allowing Leo to fall asleep against him or to wake him up again. _Oh boy_ , he thought, bringing his hands up to rest them lightly on Leo’s waist.

 

Normally, having Leo this close to him wouldn’t have been a problem, but it was one, because the crush Takumi had on Leo wasn’t like butterflies dancing in his stomach, writing their names in his notebook before circling them with a heart, and wanting to frolic in a field of flowers while holding hands. It was more like a train traveling at eighty miles an hour slamming into his body, followed by a life flight trip to the hospital and a wonderful morphine drip.

 

Finding the strength deep within himself, Takumi gently pushed Leo away from him; Leo stumbled back a step and blinked rapidly at him. “Can’t go back to sleep,” Takumi said gently, steering Leo back into the room and allowing the door to close behind them. “You need to be there for the morning practices.”

 

Leo groaned, but Takumi could tell that having to move again was waking him up more. “Fine, _fine_ ,” he said, walking as if drunk back towards his dresser and snagging some clothes out of it. “You really didn’t have to wake me up,” he told Takumi through a yawn. “I would have woken up, eventually.”

 

“Ah,” Takumi leaned against the wall and folded his arms, definitely not watching as Leo pulled his night shirt off his body. “ _Eventually_ being the key word here.”

 

Leo walked towards the bathroom, allowing the clothes he was holding in his hand to drag on the floor; he tripped over a shoe lying in his path and Takumi couldn’t hold back his laugh. “Don’t laugh,” Leo said, pushing at Takumi as he walked past him. Takumi allowed it, and then went over to Leo’s bed to grab his phone. He set an alarm for exactly one hour later and placed it back onto Leo’s bed as the shower was turned on in the bathroom.

 

“I set an alarm for you,” he called out as he heard the shower curtain being drawn back. “Just in case you fall asleep after you get out of the shower. You know that will probably happen.”

 

“That _never_ happens,” he heard Leo respond.

 

“Sure, sure, just like it never happened last week, or the week before that, or the week before _that_ ,” Takumi said, and one second later Leo’s face poked out from behind the door, his eyebrow raised and Takumi laughed himself out of the room, shoving the fact that he’d been able to see part of Leo’s bare chest for just a moment as Leo had retreated back into the bathroom to the back of his mind; there had been some water dripping down his neck, indicating that Leo had actually stepped out of the shower just to give him that look. Takumi felt blessed.

 

Once he was in the safety of the hallway, however, he pressed against the wall and breathed. He’d seen Leo bare chested before, wearing the tight clothing of his performance outfit, but for some reason it was different seeing him with just his shirt off. He waited until his heart stopped pounding before he headed towards the elevator so he could walk towards the big top, attempting to push the image of Leo staring at him sleepily out of his mind.

 

As if on cue, his body remembered how it felt to have Leo leaning against him, and a phantom sensation of hot air went over his neck and Takumi shivered. “Today is going to be a long day…”

 

***

 

Most mornings at the circus tended to run smoothly, with no horses escaping the stables, or the kinshi bird not attempting to peck someone’s eye out, but today was not going to be one of those days. When Takumi walked around the corner of the big top so that he could head in for his morning meeting, he was forced to throw himself out of the way of two galloping horses, narrowly avoiding getting trampled as they sped towards him. He pushed himself off the ground, panting as adrenaline rushed through him, and not a moment later his friend Hinata raced past him, Rinkah not far behind as they chased after the horses.

 

“So sorry,” Hinata called out to him. “They’re extremely energetic this morning!”

 

Takumi watched as Hinata and Rinkah attempted to grab the reins of the two horses, Hinata nearly getting kicked in the stomach as one of the horses threw its two back legs out at him. He felt a hand clap down on his shoulder and looked behind him to see Kaze standing next to him. “They can handle it,” he said to Takumi, just as two new horses charged past them and right at Rinkah, who threw herself out of the way and then rolled as the first two horses stomped on the ground near her. Kaze’s smile tightened on his face. “Jacob’s getting the tranquilizer.”

 

“I hate Mondays,” Takumi said as he watched Jacob march out of the big top, tranquilizer in hand. Kaze turned him around and steered him into the big top.

 

“We all do,” Kaze replied.

 

The morning meeting went down as it always did; they reviewed what everyone already knew about the day, someone spilled their cup of coffee, someone outside the big top yelled out about another animal escaping, and Setsuna slept throughout the whole thing. As the meeting finally came to a close, Takumi snagged Kaze before he left the room. “I need to go into town today to run an errand, will that be okay?”

Kaze looked down at the calendar on his tablet. “When did you want to go? There are a few spots where we won’t need your assistance.”

 

Takumi leaned over the tablet and pointed at the time slot he planned to take off. “During Leo’s practice hour; I’ve already shown my new assistant how to check the rigging for the silks so his slot would be the best time. If that’s okay,” he added quickly.

 

“Takumi, you are allowed to take a few hours off. With how much you work I’m sure you’ve saved up almost three months of paid time off,” Kaze said, blocking out the hours Takumi would be gone on the calendar. “Tell your assistant what to do and then you’ll be free to do what you need to.”

 

Takumi opened his mouth to thank his boss when a cry of “CHIRPTACULAR THE FLAPTASTIC ESCAPED AGAIN!” was heard from outside. Instinctively, Takumi backed away from the nearest door, flinching as the screech from their kinshi bird assaulted his ears. The door to the big top flew open and Leo dashed in,a few other performers following quickly; Leo turned around and quickly slammed the door shut behind him, just after Takumi was able to see a streak of white as the kinshi bird flew past the door.

 

Leo let out a breath and sagged against the door. “That was a close one.”

 

Outside a loud roar drowned out the screeching of the kinshi bird. Takumi pointed at the door. “Keaton’s going to take care of the kinshi?”

 

Leo fixed his hair and straightened his headband before he walked over to him. “Yes, so hopefully -”

 

There was a loud howling sound from outside that cut through their conversation, with a dejected sounding screech from the kinshi bird following soon after. Takumi gave Leo a grin. “Looks like Keaton caught Flaptastic.”

 

“Who named the bird again?”

 

“Arthur’s son, I think.”

 

Takumi looked Leo up and down, resisting the urge to laugh when Leo looked down at his body, muttering out a “What?” when Takumi continued to stare.

 

Takumi waved his hand and then wrapped his arm around Leo’s shoulders, pulling him with him as he walked further into the big top. “Oh, nothing. I just wanted to tell you that I need to run a personal errand today during your practice; instead, my assistant will take over the preparations for your routine, are you okay with that?”

 

Leo frowned at him. “Why wouldn’t I be okay with that?”

 

Takumi shrugged. “Because I’m always the one that looks over everything before your practice to make sure it’s set up correctly.”

 

“Takumi,” Leo said, and Takumi ignored the feeling of his stomach doing somersault. “You are allowed to take time off, you know that right?” At Takumi’s flush Leo smirked. “You work too hard, in these two years you’ve been with us you’ve only taken a few days off.”

 

“Well…”

 

“You’re going to buy a gift for Sakura’s birthday, right? I looked around for a gift like I told you I would, and there’s a cute little bookstore in town that has a few things I think she’ll like.”

 

Takumi stopped walking, forcing Leo to stop as well. “Why were you looking for gifts for Sakura?”

 

“What do you mean, you asked me to help you find a gift when we went to that club last week, _This Side Of The Bottomless Canyon_ , remember? You were complaining about how you had no time to find a gift for her because you had to train your new assistant and I offered to look for some things that she might like.”

 

Takumi only vaguely remembered that night. He remembered going to the club with a few other performers, his new assistant (who really shouldn’t have been hired without having any prior knowledge on the type of technology they used at the circus, but they were short handed and needed people), and a few other stagehands. They’d had a good night, drinking a little and most of what happened after that was a blur to Takumi, because the only thing he remembered clearly about that night was that Leo had given one of the pole dancers a quick lesson regarding a few moves that he used at her request.

 

Takumi had never seen Leo perform on poles before; the performances that Leo did were on hoops and silks only, so seeing him on the pole, teaching some of the other pole dancers a few moves had dominated his memory of that night. Instead of informing Leo of this (which would have been a _very_ bad idea), he said, “Oh yeah, sorry, I think I had a little bit too much to drink that night. What did you say you found for her?”

 

They’d reached the main hall where they would go their separate ways, causing Takumi to have to take his arm off of Leo’s shoulders. “There’s a bookstore close to the hotel called _Nookimura’s_ and -”

 

Takumi raised an eyebrow at him and Leo shrugged one shoulder. “ _Nookimura’s_?”

 

“The owner’s name is Yukimura; I think he was trying to be clever, but sadly it’s just an unfortunate name. He does have quite a collection of interesting books, though. I was passing by it the other day and there are quite a few romance novels that I believe Sakura would be interested in if you want to check it out.”

 

Honestly, Takumi now wanted to check it out purely because the bookstore was named _Nookimura’s_. He took the business card that Leo handed to him and waved his friend off, definitely not watching his ass as he walked away. As he moved to head in the direction he needed to go, though, Hinata tapped his shoulder and motioned towards Leo.

 

“You’re not going to tell him his sweater is inside out?”

 

Takumi looked over his shoulder again at Leo and then grinned. “Nah, he’ll figure it out eventually.” He didn’t voice out that he thought it was a rather endearing trait of Leo’s.

 

***

 

 _Nookimura’s_ actually was a cute little store, Takumi browsed the shelves aligned with books, hoping to find something that Sakura would like. He’d spent a good few minutes just looking around, thinking that he’d like to come back there with Leo on their day off, just to go through the collection of books more thoroughly.

 

The owner had pointed him in the direction of the romance for young teenagers and (after having to hold in his laughter at remembering the store’s name) Takumi went down the line, reading the summary of one after another. The problem was that with each summary he found himself slowly replacing the names of the characters with his and Leo’s name. Growing frustrated, he snagged the first book that his finger landed on, quickly read the back and decided that if Sakura didn’t like it, he’d get her something else later on.

 

He walked up to the counter to pay and as he was being rung up the owner glanced down at his shirt. “Did you see the circus?”

 

Takumi looked down at his shirt; as members of the staff, they were required to wear something advertising the show whenever they were out of the big top. “Oh, well yes. Technically. I work at the circus.”

 

Yukimura raised an eyebrow. “You work for them? You look so young.”

 

“Yep, nearing on two years now.” Which reminded him that Leo had let it slip that he was planning something for Takumi’s two year anniversary with the troupe. “Have you had a chance to see it yet?”

 

“No, not yet. The performance this year is… what is the story?”

 

Takumi handed the man his card to finish the transaction. “It’s _The Kingdom of Valla_.”

 

“Ah, how nice, if not historically accurate.”

 

“I’m sorry?”

 

“Oh, nothing at all.”

 

Takumi resisted the urge to roll his eyes and instead tapped his finger against the counter as Yukimura moved at a snail's pace to finish the transaction. The rest of the time spent buying the book was silent, and as Takumi exited the bookstore, he waved goodbye to the owner and pointed up at the sign. “Nice name for the store.”

 

As he let the door close behind him, ignoring the glare that Yukumira shot him, his phone rang loudly. He jumped, almost dropping the bag in his hands as he quickly dug his phone out of his pocket, answering it with a quick, “Hello?”

 

“ _Takumi_ ,” came Felicia’s voice, and there was something in her tone that had him slow his walking. “ _We need you to come back soon, please._ ”

 

Takumi frowned, dodging a person walking directly towards him, his pace speeding up to where it had been originally. “What’s wrong?”

 

There was a pause on the other end of the line and Takumi could hear Felicia’s inhale. “ _How close are you to the hotel?_ ”

 

“I’m not too far, maybe about ten minutes. Why, Felicia? What’s going on?”

 

When Felicia spoke again, Takumi had reached the crosswalk and was waiting for the signal; he tapped his foot impatiently, feeling anxious for some reason. “ _He wants you to promise that you won’t get angry._ ”

 

There was only one person who would ask that of him, and Takumi’s heart rate sped up as he began crossing the street. “What’s going on with Leo? Does this have to with Sakura’s gift? I’m not mad that I had to pick it up at the bookstore called _Nookimura's_  if that’s what he’s worried about.”

 

“ _No, no, that’s not it,_ ” she said, and when she spoke again Takumi was thankfully already safely across the street, because once she did he stopped walking completely. " _Takumi, Leo fell.”_

 

***

 

As he rushed into the hotel, nearly knocking over a couple entering at the same time as him, Takumi’s mind was in panic mode. He had envisioned all of the different ways that Leo could have fallen, pictured the many ways he could have landed, and while he knew logically that Leo wasn’t hurt badly considering he was back in his hotel room, that one part of him in the back of his mind was still freaking out.

 

It only took two knocks on Leo’s hotel door for him to be let in, and when he was he was greeted with Leo sitting on his bed, an ice pack on his knee and another pressed against the left side of his face. The small smile Leo gave him went right over Takumi, who was still staring at the ice pack on Leo’s face. “I see you went and picked up a gift for your sister,” Leo tried to say around the ice pack. “Do you think she’ll like it?”

 

Takumi dropped the bag with Sakura’s birthday gift on the small table near him and marched over closer to Leo. “Forget the gift,” he said firmly, gesturing at Leo. “What happened here?”

 

Behind them, Felicia slipped out of the room, closing the hotel door as softly as she could. Leo removed the ice pack from his cheek, and without it blocking his face Takumi could see a large bruise covering from his temple down to his nose. Leo let out a sigh. “It is as you were told. I fell.”

 

Takumi, nails digging into his hands as he forced himself to remain as calm as possible, sat down on the edge of the bed, still staring at that large bruise. “But _why_? I know you, you don’t fall.”

 

It was only by the tone of his voice that Takumi could tell that Leo was flustered. “It has happened. It’s rare, but I have fallen before.”

 

“This, though,” Takumi mumbled, wanting to reach forward to touch Leo’s face but instead tapping Leo’s shin, right underneath the ice pack on his knee. “This feels like more than just a fall during practice.”

 

Leo looked down at his lap. “Takumi, I know you.” He paused and then sighed again. “I’ll tell you but I want you to promise me that you won’t blame yourself.”

 

“That’s not helping one bit,” Takumi replied, the same sensation he always felt right before he got bad news coming over him.

 

“The rigging holding up my silks was set up wrong,” Leo said slowly, holding a hand to his sore jaw. “When I went to perform a drop from high up it didn’t hold me, and I fell.”

 

 _Wait_ … Takumi sat up straight, thinking. “I had assigned the new kid to take over my job for me today. He told me he’d double check to make sure everything was set up properly.”

 

“He either didn’t check it at all or didn’t see that anything was wrong,” Leo began, and then he quickly said once he saw Takumi open his mouth again, “It wasn’t your fault.”

 

Takumi shut his mouth.

 

“I know how you think,” Leo said with the slightest upward turn of his lips. “It wasn’t your fault that the kid messed up, and therefore it wasn’t your fault that I fell.”

 

Takumi opened his mouth, shut it, and opened it again. “How is it that you always know where my mind starts to go?”

 

Leo shrugged his shoulders. “I think it’s because we spend an awful lot of time together.”

 

Takumi went to argue, but he found that he really couldn’t argue something that was a fact. He and Leo really _did_ spend an awful lot of time together, but it was time that Takumi enjoyed. Yes, he had a rather large crush on Leo, but he also enjoyed just _being_ with him; Leo was one of his best friends and they shared so much in common. There was just the added bonus of the fact that Leo was absolutely _beautiful_.

 

Takumi’s crush on Leo came at him with the strength of a cannon, probably because he’d first realized it after having been pushed out of the way of an actual cannon charging down the hill right at him. Their decorative cannon had somehow become unchained and Takumi hadn’t noticed that it was speeding down the hill towards him until it was too late. Resigned to probably spending the rest of his life in a full body cast or possibly dying, he’d braced himself for a world of pain only for the back of his hoodie to be grabbed and for his body to be yanked to the side and dragged to the ground just in time for the cannon to charge past him and slam into side of a building.

 

Glancing down, he’d noticed that his savior had been Leo, but most importantly, that Leo was very comfortable to lay on. “Thanks,” he had said, giving Leo a sheepish grin. “You saved my life.”

 

“You’re welcome,” Leo had replied, his voice sounding a bit muffled. “Could you remove your hair from my face and mouth please?”

 

Flushing, Takumi had grabbed his ponytail and pulled it off of Leo’s face; underneath him, Leo scrunched up his nose and sneezed cutely, mumbling out a quick “thanks” once his face was free of hair. Takumi had continued to stare as Leo let out a quick series of sneezes, thinking about how cute Leo was and how Takumi would have liked to kiss his nose, _or his forehead, or his lips, or his ass_. Takumi had always known that he liked Leo, mostly in the friend way, but the more he watched Leo’s face scrunch up as he continued to sneeze the more he wanted to let his body fall back down on top of him and smother him in kisses.

 

He’d had a few crushes in life, and had dated a few people as well, but that realization had been the first time he’d understood that his interest in Leo was more than just friendship and had also been the first time he’d looked at someone he was crushing on and thought the words, _oh no._

 

Leo shifted next to him, wincing as he moved his leg to a more comfortable spot. Takumi looked back at the bruising covering Leo’s face and felt guilt rising in his stomach. He bit his lip. “I assume you’re being taken out of the show for a while?”

 

There was a sigh, and then, “Yes, at least a week, but I’m hoping it won’t be any longer than that.”

 

Takumi said, “What would you say to me coming by tonight with your favorite ice cream, some tomato soup, and a good movie?”

 

A look was thrown in his direction. “This isn’t because you feel guilty at all, right?”

 

Avoiding Leo’s gaze he stood up from the bed. “Not at all, it’s because my friend got injured and I’d like for his night to be a little less horrible.”

 

“Well, okay then, as long as you don’t feel responsible in any way about this happening.”

 

Takumi shook his head. “No, I don’t feel responsible _at all_.”

 

***

 

 _Liar_ , he thought, watching as Leo descended from his silks, completing his practice run through of his routine, without problems as usual.

 

He watched Leo touch down on the ground and only then did he tear his eyes away. Taking the headset off he took the clipboard that an assistant offered him, read over the papers, and then signed off on the order to get more needed tools to fix up the riggings for the hoops. As he gave the clipboard back to the assistant he felt a tap on his shoulder and turned to see Leo staring at him, eyes intense.

 

“What?”

 

Leo had his arms folded, hip cocked out to the side and head tilted in the same direction. “You seem tense.”

 

Takumi took a deep breath. “Yeah, I was just worried about the rigging while you were up there.”

 

The two of them glanced up at where the silks were hanging from the ceiling. Leo gave him a rather shy looking smile. “Can I tell you a secret?”

 

“What is it?”

 

The two of them started to make their way out of the big top; it was their lunch hour, and Takumi’s stomach was protesting its lack of food rather loudly. “I was a little nervous going up there today.”

 

Takumi almost stopped walking, angling his body as he moved so that he could give Leo a startled look. “You, _nervous_?”

 

Leo shrugged. “A little. It’s more like I feel like I don’t trust the silks and the rigging anymore. I trust the ones I use in practice because I’ve never fallen on them because of a faulty setup, it was always my own error. Now, however…”

 

“No,” Takumi said, giving Leo a one armed hug. He didn’t like that look on his friend’s face. “I understand.”

 

He understood a bit _too_ well.

 

***

 

An hour before the show, Takumi had received a text from Leo asking him to meet him in the practice room. He’d meant to go, but one of the horses had escaped again and knocked down one of the setups for the show, and he’d spent a good fifty minutes putting it back together again while the horse was caught and led back into the stables. By the time he made it to the practice room, he feared he’d missed Leo, but instead he was met with a sight that he never grew tired of.

 

Leo was dressed in his performance outfit, no doubt testing how the new silks felt with it on before they opened the doors to let the people in to see the show. As Takumi walked closer, Leo allowed himself to drop; he twisted twice, elegant as ever, and finished upside down, dangling just above where Takumi had stopped walking.

 

“I’m glad that you were able to meet me before the show, I thought you’d be busy. I’d heard something about one of our horse killing someone?.”

 

Takumi watched him dangle just above him, the feathery part of the uniform brushing up against his left shoulder. Leo was smiling at him, and Takumi made sure to focus on that instead of how Leo’s leg was wrapped around the silks, and how his other leg was extended out with his foot wrapped in the silks.

 

“Yeah,” he replied, before immediately correcting when Leo gave him a shocked look, “well, no, the only thing that died was one of the setups that had to be fixed. That’s what took me so long. What did you want to see me about?”

 

With his state makeup on, the bruise on Leo’s face was no longer noticeable, something that Takumi was grateful for. Leo twisted on the silks, gracefully landing on the floor in front of him. “I wanted to talk to you real quick before the show started.” He gave Takumi an assessing look, one that made Takumi want to look away. “Do you still feel like my fall was your fault? I hope that you realize that it _really_ wasn’t.”

Takumi pursed his lips and avoided looking Leo directly in the eyes. “I know I shouldn’t, because it _wasn’t_ my fault, but I do. If I had been there, I would have caught the issue with the rigging and you wouldn’t have had to be stuck resting for the week that you were. I wish there was a way for this feeling to go away, but it’s not leaving me.”

 

Leo folded his arms and tapped his finger on the side of his arms, the look on his face thoughtful. The longer he thought the faster his tapping got; it was a cute habit that Takumi had noticed about him. “I have an idea,” he said a while later. “How about you make it up to me, then?”

 

“What do you mean?”

Leo gave Takumi a pointed look. “Assist me in the hours that I train privately. I’ve been working on a few new tricks and I need someone to spot me; I know that you’ve helped spot acrobats before and you know how I work, so I think it’ll be perfect. It’ll be like you making it up for me for not being there to check the setup. Unless you do something to ‘make it up to me’ I know you’ll feel guilty for the longest time.”

 

Takumi agreed before he could even think it through, knowing that Leo was right and that helping Leo with his private practices would help get rid of the guilty feeling. Leo seemed a little surprised at how quickly Takumi agreed, but there wasn’t any time for them to discuss it further as the door to the practice room opened and one of the state hands told them that the show was starting. They left the room together, Takumi giving Leo a quick one armed hug for good luck as they separated to go to their needed positions.

 

Feeling better at having a way to make it up to Leo, Takumi felt more focused during the show. He didn’t think that helping Leo practice would be an issue at all, and it was only the next morning when he arrived at the room where Leo had told him to meet after the show did he realize that he _really_ should have given himself time to think about Leo’s offer before agreeing. The moment he walked into the room he was met with Leo standing with his back to him, bent down as he stretched his legs.

 

“Good morning,” Leo said, looking tired but also ready to go. “Are you ready? I’m going to need some help with a few stretches.” Leo promptly turned around, laid on the ground, and lifted his leg. “What I need you to do is grab my leg and push it as close to my head until I tell you to stop.”

 

Takumi stumbled forward, coming to a stop right next to Leo’s body. “Uh… I just, grab?”

 

Leo nodded. “Yes, grab my leg on my calf or thigh and then push.”

 

Takumi did as he was told, and the second he got his hand on Leo’s thigh he had to fight the blush that threatened to overtake his face. He followed Leo’s instructions, but the further he pushed the harder it was to stay standing, and he eventually ended up on his knees, straddling Leo’s other leg as he continued to push. The more he moved Leo’s leg down, the more Takumi became aware of just how much they were touching. He gulped and tore his eyes away from Leo’s face, choosing instead to stare at the wall ahead of him as his hips pressed up against Leo’s lower thigh. He had just slipped his hand up from Leo’s thigh to under his knee when Leo let out a small hiss that drew Takumi’s attention back to his face. Leo had closed his eyes and was biting at his lip, and Takumi wondered who he’d pissed off in another life to be tortured like he was.

 

One push on his leg later and Leo let out a small moan and Takumi took back his previous thought. _Someone in my previous life must have loved me to give me this opportunity._

 

“There, that feels good,” Leo said then, “Keep it right there for another second.”

 

 _Why have I never realized just how flexible Leo is before now_ , Takumi questioned himself. He was suddenly grateful that Leo held his private practices at the crack of dawn, because Takumi didn’t know if he’d be able to do this if there were other people around them. Sure, it wouldn’t look awkward to other performers, but Takumi just knew that if Hinata or Oboro saw this, he’d never be able to stop the teasing.

 

“Okay, that’s good,” Leo said, pulling Takumi away from his thoughts, and he moved back a bit as Leo brought his leg down. Taking a breath, Takumi went to move away (to calm his rapidly beating heart and to also make a much needed adjustment in his pants) when Leo lifted his other leg. “Alright, now the next one.”

 

Takumi honestly didn’t know if he was going to live long enough for his guilt to go away.

**Author's Note:**

> well, that's the end of that chapter. please let me know what you thought, your comments and kudos mean a lot to me ;u; 
> 
> [twitter](https://twitter.com/mikleeo)


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